Self-Storage Marketing Receives Special Focus at 2014 ISS Expo

Marketing a self-storage business today is a convoluted process involving a myriad of online and offline strategies. Facility owners and managers looking to strengthen their marketing efforts will find information and strategies at next week’s Inside Self-Storage World Expo, March 30-April 2, in Las Vegas.

The Marketing Track on April 1 includes three seminars designed to help operators improve their marketing programs. The first session, at 8:30 a.m., offers insight to building a grassroots-marketing campaign. Speakers Shari Sutton, owner, and Heather Saldaña, marketing executive, of Sutton Watkins Advertising & Marketing, will show operators how to embrace new marketing strategies, establish relationships with key community members, and perfect their “sales” pitch to get real results.

The 9:45 a.m. seminar, “Online-Marketing Metrics: How to Track, Interpret and Use Your Results,” will share ways to track marketing efforts on a cost per rental by media source. Led by speaker Jason Barrett, president and chief operating officer of Go Local Interactive, the session will identify which metrics are critical and how operators can use the collected information to improve their online marketing.

The final seminar of the day, at 11 a.m., focuses on search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). Speaker Christopher Baird, CEO of Automatit Inc., will highlight mistakes operators often make in their SEO and SEM strategies. The session will include information about tracking online efforts and website content.

In addition, this year’s show includes an all-new event on April 2 designed to help operators navigate social media and improve their standing. Beginning at 8 a.m. and concluding at 11:50 a.m., the Social Media Mastery Workshop will delve into a variety of topics. Speaker David Wolf, managing partner of Linkmedia 360, will discuss the essentials of popular platforms, page content that gets the best results, measurement techniques, and tools to help optimize pages for SEO. Separate registration is required.

The conference and tradeshow will take place at the Paris Hotel & Resort. Discount registration rates are available through March 28.

Created for self-storage owners, managers, developers, investors and suppliers, the ISS Expo is the industry’s largest conference and tradeshow, comprising four days of education, exhibits and networking opportunities. The event focuses on revenue-generation strategies, best practices, current trends, and new products and services. Details and online registration are available at www.insideselfstorageworldexpo.com.